The recent posting of offensive anti-Islamic cartoons in St. Cloud was part of a pattern of hatred toward people of color in this area, some said Wednesday at a rally at St. Cloud State University.
The university’s Somali Student Association sponsored the rally, which drew comment from city and university leaders, students and one gubernatorial candidate.
The session was a response to last month’s cartoon incident, in which sexually explicit drawings of the Prophet Muhammad and a swastika were posted around St. Cloud, including near a mosque and a Somali-owned store.
St. Cloud State President Earl H. Potter III professed empathy for those hurt by the cartoons, while two professors took aim at what they called systemic racism in the St. Cloud area.
Luke Tripp, a professor of community studies, said the same “conservative white” mind-set led to the election of U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Stillwater.
Tripp cited a history of racially motivated high school fights as evidence of the animosity that Somalis encounter here.
“There has been a series of hateful attacks against the growing Somali community since they began arriving here,” Tripp said.
People of color routinely face discrimination from local landlords and the St. Cloud-area criminal-justice system, said Tamrat Tademe, professor of human relations and multicultural education. But a visibly agitated Tademe added that St. Cloud State doesn’t need to look outward to find instances of discrimination.
“There are perpetrators on this campus who abuse students of color continually,” Tademe said.
Several speakers also criticized the lack of a fully funded city human rights office.
One gubernatorial candidate, DFLer Matt Entenza, issued a statement Wednesday about the rally. Entenza said he was sorry he couldn’t attend the event and denounced the anti-Islamic drawings, calling them “despicable.”
Mohamed Mohamed, president of the Somali Student Association, said he’s encountered discrimination in St. Cloud. But Mohamed added that Wednesday’s rally shouldn’t be about pitting one race of people against another.
“This issue is not white and black,” Mohamed said. “It’s human rights.”
